December 2019
WEeb.in Team Current Affairs Total Views: 550 Posted: Jan 10, 2020 Updated: Jan 15, 2025
Current Affairs December 2019
| The first Chief of Defence Staff, a four star rank created by the Union Cabinet recently | General Bipin Rawat |
| The US astronaut who has created a new record for the longest single space flight by a woman breaking the record of 288 days held by Peggy Whitson | Christina Koch |
| The activist from Pakistan who has been named as the most famous teenager in the world by the United Nations in its decade review report | Malala Yousafzai |
| The Indian contestant who has become the first from the country to be crowned Miss Teen International at a beauty pageant held in JaiBagh Palace in Jaipur | Ayushi Dholakia |
| The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader who has been sworn-in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand | Hemant Soren |
| The place in Uttar Pradesh where India's first university for the transgender community is being set up by the Akhil Bhartiya Kinnar Siksha Seva Trust | Kushinagar |
| The railway route on which Him Darshan Express, comprising all new vistadome coaches has been unveiled by the Indian Railways | Kalka to Shimla |
| The two day pollution response exercise conducted by Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Vadinar in Gulf of Kutch was named | Swachchh Samudra NW-2019 |
| The tennis players who have been named International Tennis Federation's World Champions for 2019 | Rafael Nadal and Ashleigh Barty |
| The eight west African countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo have renamed their common currency CFA-Franc to | Eco |
| The European nation whose football team has been named FIFA Team of the Year 2019 (for the second time in a row) | Belgium |
| The anti-hijacking exercise conducted jointly by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Kochi was code named | Apharan |
| The country which has announced launching of Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize to be given every year | Portugal |
| The country which has become the first in the world to recognise Indian Pharmacopoeia (The IP specifies the standards of drugs manufactured and marketed in India in terms of their identity, purity and strength.) | Afghanistan |
| The Indian cricketer who has become the first bowler from the country to claim 2 hat tricks in one-day internationals | Kuldeep Yadav |
| The Indian author who has been chosen for the 2019 DSC Prize for South Asian literature for his novel Half the Night is Gone | Amitabha Bagchi |
| The English international cricketer who has been chosen as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 | Ben Stokes |
| The Australian tennis player who has won the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) Player of the Year 2019 | Ashleigh Barty |
| The Indian actress who has been chosen for the 2020 Crystal Award for spreading awareness about mental health by the World Economic Forum | Dipika Padukone |
| The contestant from Jamaica who has been crowned Miss World at a beauty pageant in London (Indian contestant Suman Rao was the 2nd Runner-up) | Tony-Ann Singh |
| The veteran Hindi and Marathi film and theatre actor who passed away on 17 Dec 2019 | Dr. Shriram Lagoo |
| The present Vice Chief of Army Staff who has been chosen to be the next Chief of Army Staff from 31 Dec 2019 | Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM |
| The State to which Inner Line Permit regime was extended by a Presidential order making it the 4th state after Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram where the regime is applicable | Manipur |
| The environmental activist from Sweden who has been named Time Person of the Year 2019 | Greta Thunberg |
| The noted Hindi writer who has been chosen for the 33rd Moortidevi Award 2019 for his work Asti aur Bhavati | Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari |
| The South African contestant who has been crowned Miss Universe 2019 in a ceremony in Atlanta, USA | Zozibini Tunzi |
| The country which has been banned by World Anti-Doping Agency for 4 years from all major sporting events | Russia |
| The American engineer well known for inventing the Universal Product Code (Bar Code) who passed away on 05 Dec 2019 | George J. Laurer |
| The Indian actress who has been awarded the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by UNICEF | Priyanka Chopra |
| The country to which India has gifted a Made in India patrol vessel named KAAMIYAAB | Maldives |
| The railway station which has been conferred with the Eat Right Station certification with four stars rating by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) as a part of 'Eat Right India' movement launched last year | Mumbai Central |
| The joint, tri services exercise between India and Russia to be conducted from 10 to 19 December 2019 simultaneously at Babina (near Jhansi), Pune, Gwalior and Goa is named | Exercise Indra |
| The Australian cricketer who has become the fastest to score 7000 runs in test cricket by reaching the milestone in 126 innings (breaking the record of Wally Hammond - 131 innings) | Steve Smith |
| The team which has won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20 (cricket) defeating Tamil Nadu in the finals | Karnataka |
| The Indian journalist and author who has been awarded the Shakti Bhatt First Book prize for his book Early Indians: The Story of our Ancestors and Where we came from | Tony Joseph |
| The German politician who has taken over as the first female President of European Commission | Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen |
| The venue of the 14th edition of bilateral annual military exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIV between Indian and Nepal Army | Salijhandi, Rupendehi (Nepal) |
| The venue of UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) under the presidency of Chila, India being represented by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar | Madrid, Spain |
| The venue of the 8th edition of India-China joint training exercise 'HAND-IN-HAND 2019' with the theme counter terrorism under United Nations mandate scheduled to be conducted from 07 to 20 December 2019 | Umroi, Meghalaya |
| The Naval officer who has become the first woman pilot of the Indian Navy | Sub Lt Shivangi |
| The venue of joint military exercise of India and Sri Lanka, MITRA SHAKTI- 2019 which commenced on 01 December and concluded on 14 December | Aundh Military Station, Pune |
The World's 100 Most Powerful Women by: Forbes
| # | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Angela Merkel | Germany |
| 2. | Christine Lagarde | France |
| 3. | Nancy Pelosi | USA |
| 34. | Nirmala Sitharaman | India |
| 54. | Roshni Nadar Malhotra | India |
| 65. | Kiran Mazumdar Shaw | India |
13th South Asian Games 2019
Venue: Kathmandu and Pokhara (Nepal)
Held from 01 to 10 December 2019
Mascot: A pair of blackbucks
Participant countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Medals Tally
| # | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | India | 173 | 93 | 45 | 311 |
| 2. | Nepal | 51 | 60 | 95 | 206 |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | 41 | 83 | 128 | 252 |
| 4. | Pakistan | 32 | 41 | 59 | 132 |
Bhartiya POSHAN Anthem
Title: Poshanam
Launched by: Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu
Written by: Prasoon Joshi
Composed and sung by: Shankar Mahadevan
Aim: To inspire people to join the movement to fight the scourge of malnutrition
Important Days of December
World AIDS Day: 01 December 2019
Designated by: World Health Organisation
Theme: Communities make the difference
First Observed in: 1988
International Day of Persons with Disabilities: 03 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda
First Observed in: 1992
International Volunteer Day: 05 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Volunteer for an inclusive future
First Observed in: 1986
World Soil Day: 05 December 2019
First launched by : International Union of Soil Sciences (2002)
Endorsed by : Food and Agricultural Organisation (Jun 2013)
Accepted by : United Nations General Assembly (Dec 2013)
Theme: Stop Soil Erosion, Save our Future
International Civil Aviation Day: 07 December 2019
Established by : International Civil Aviation Organisation (1994)
Adopted by : United Nations General Assembly (1996)
International Anti Corruption Day: 09 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
First Observed in: 2003
Theme: United against Corruption
United Nations Human Rights Day: 10 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Youth Standing up for human rights
First Observed in: 1948
International Mountains Day: 11 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Mountains Matter for Youth
First Observed in: 2003
International Universal Health Coverage Day: 12 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Keep the Promise
First Observed in: 2017
International Migrants Day: 18 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
Theme: We together
First Observed in: 2000
International Human Solidarity Day: 20 December 2019
Designated by : United Nations General Assembly
First Observed in: 2006
Sahitya Akademi Awards 2019
| Language | Title and Genre | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Assamese | Chanakya (Novel) | Joyshree Goswami Mahanta |
| Bengali | Ghumer Darja Thele (Essays) | Chinmiy Guha |
| Bodo | Akhai Athumniphrai (Poetry) | Phukan Ch. Basumaraty |
| Dogri | Bandraita Darpan (Essays) | Om Sharma Jandriari |
| English | An Era of Darkness (Non-Fiction) | Shashi Tharoor |
| Gujarati | Mojma Revu Re (Essays) | Ratilal Borisagar |
| Hindi | Cheelate Hue Apne Ko (Poetry) | Nand Kishore Acharya |
| Kannada | Kudi Esaru (Autobiography) | Vijaya |
| Kashmiri | Akh Yaad Akh Qayamat (Short Stories) | Abdul Ahad Hajini |
| Konkani | The Words (Poetry) | Nilba A. Khandekar |
| Maithili | Jingik Oriaon Karait (Poetry) | Kumar Manish Arvind |
| Malayalam | Achan Piranna Veedu (Poetry) | Anuradha Patil |
| Manipuri | Ei Amadi Adungeigi Eethat (Novel) | L. Birmangol Singh |
| Marathi | Kadachit Ajoonahi (Poetry) | Anuradha Patil |
| Odia | Bhaswati (Short Stories) | Tarun Kanti Mishra |
| Punjabi | Antheen (Short Stories) | Kirpal Kazak |
| Rajasthani | Bareek Baat (Short Stories) | Ramsawroop Kisan |
| Sanskrit | Prajnachakshusham (Poetry) | Penna Madhusudan |
| Santali | Sisirjali (Short Stories) | Kali Charan Hembram |
| Sindhi | Jeejal (Short Stories) | Ishwar Moorjani |
| Tamil | Sool (Novel) | Cho. Dhaman |
| Telugu | Saptabhoomi (Novel) | Bandi Narayana Swamy |
| Urdu | Sawaneh-E-Sir Syed: Ek Bazdeed (Biography) | Shafey Kidwai |
FICCI India Sports Awards 2019
Sports Person of the Year - Female: Rani Rampal(Hockey)
Sports Person of the Year - Male: Saurabh Chaudhary(Shooting)
Best National Sports Federation: National Rifle Association of India
Best Company Promoting Sports (Public Sector): Railway Sports Promotion Board
Best Para-athlete: Sandeep Chaudhary (Javelin).
Breakthrough Sports Person: Amit Panghal (Boxing)
Lifetime Achievement: Pankaj Advani (Cue sports)
Best State promoting sports: Odisha
Launch of RISAT-2BR1
Launch date : 11.12.2019
Launch vehicle : PSLV-C48
Launched from : SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota
RISAT-2BR1 is a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg. The satellite will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management. The mission life of RISAT-2BR1 is 5 years.
Alongwith RISAT, nine customer satellites of Israel, Italy, Japan and USA were also injected into their designated orbits. These satellites were launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019
The Act provides for the following, namely:—
- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, will not be treated as illegal migrants.
- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, can apply for citizenship by naturalization on completion of 5 years instead of 11 years.
- These provisions on citizenship for illegal migrants will not apply to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura, included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. Further, it will not apply to the “Inner Line” areas notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. (applicable to Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.)
Abbreviations in News
IMI - Intensified Mission Indradhanush
PPRTMS - Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System
Books in News
Turbulence and Triumph - The Modi Year by Rahul Agarwal and Bharti S Pradhan
Download PDF of December 2019